The Trump administration is preparing to ramp up funding by hundreds of millions of dollars for programs designed to counter China's growing influence around the world, after it had put a halt to many of those initiatives last year during a flurry of budget and personnel cuts.
"A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking real money."
That famous quote, once attributed to the late Republican Sen. Everett Dirksen in the mid-20th century, is of unknown origin. But when it comes to Congress and spending, the point still holds.
For now, the judge rejected the Baptist university's arguments that its actions are exempt from federal law and that students agree to information sharing.
The appeals panel agreed with a federal judge that it could not block the executive order until its proposals have been enacted.
The US is making measles great again, so treatment options are needed for the most vulnerable.
@#22
Another song from the Purple Rain soundtrack ...
Prince and the Revolution - When Doves Cry (1984)
www.youtube.com
Purple Rain (film)
en.wikipedia.org(film)#Music
... The film is tied into the album of the same name, which spawned two chart-topping singles, "When Doves Cry" and the opening number "Let's Go Crazy", as well as "Purple Rain", which reached number two. The film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score.
The soundtrack sold over 15 million copies in the United States alone, and 25 million worldwide.[22] ...
@#6 ... Ask our farmers. ...
Good point.
But then there's this ...
Trump's $12 billion farmer bailout is a Band-Aid on a bigger wound' the American agriculture industry is still reeling from (December 2025)
fortune.com
... President Donald Trump has delivered on his promise to provide aid to U.S. farmers hit by his sweeping tariff policy, but that hasn't freed the agriculture industry from worries of tight margins and volatile markets.
On Monday, Trump, alongside Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, announced a $12 billion farm aid program, which outlined much-needed relief for farmers who sounded the alarms about increasing input costs and fewer export opportunities amid ongoing trade tensions. Farmers will begin receiving funds by the end of February, Rollins said.
"Now we're once again in a position where a president is able to put farmers first," Trump said at a Monday roundtable of farmers and lawmakers. "But unfortunately, I'm the only president that does that."
While farmers and agricultural economists see the package as a way to move forward after a disappointing harvest season, they fear the precedent of cash bailouts does not provide systemic solutions to a beleaguered industry, and they don't believe the $12 billion gesture is enough to solve agriculture's deeper challenges.
"We're talking $12 billion, and while it is a lot of money, in the grand scheme of things, it's still going to be a Band-Aid on a bigger wound," Ryan Loy, assistant professor and extension economist for the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture, told Fortune. "How can we triage this situation right now, work on that longer-term solution? That's really, I think, the overall attitude toward it." ...
Oh no!
After backlash, Upstate NY school district pauses plan to add humanoid robot to classroom
www.syracuse.com
... A Western New York school district has halted its plans to place a humanoid robot in a classroom after a New York Focus report on the plan sparked fierce debate over the use of artificial intelligence in schools and backlash from local parents.
Salamanca City Central School District announced in a Facebook post Friday afternoon that its pilot project with tech company Realbotix has been put on hold as school officials "work through enhanced student data privacy agreements" with the state education agency and engage with community members.
The news comes hours after state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa sent a letter informing Salamanca Superintendent Mark Beehler that "the Department remains concerned about the effect that a humanoid robot may have within a high school classroom." According to the letter, the department met with the district to discuss the robot plan earlier this week.
"Many parents, teachers, and stakeholders are understandably concerned about the presence of artificial intelligence technology in classrooms, particularly when it involves robots that resemble humans," Rosa wrote.
The district had planned to introduce the robot to high school students this fall, along with an artificial intelligence teacher's assistant program that allowed students to interact with an avatar of the robot on laptops. The $57,590 investment was approved at a local school board meeting last month. ...
@#20 ... It is from a weird film called "The Body" and is called Give Birth To A Smile. Quite a departure ...
I have that soundtrack album. Likely because I was accumulating Pink Floyd soundtrack songs back in the day.
Music from The Body
en.wikipedia.org
... Music from The Body is the soundtrack album to Roy Battersby's 1970 documentary film The Body,[3] about human biology, narrated by Vanessa Redgrave and Frank Finlay. ...
But, yeah. Weird.
Prince & The Revolution - Purple Rain (1984)
www.youtube.com
Purple Rain (film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Rain_(film)
... Purple Rain is a 1984 American romantic rock musical drama film directed by Albert Magnoli from a screenplay co-written by Magnoli and William Blinn. It stars Prince (in his feature film debut), Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day, Olga Karlatos, and Clarence Williams III. In the film, the Kid (Prince), a rising musician, grapples with his turbulent personal life as he competes with rival local musician Morris (Day). ...
Yeah, I've been seeing these headlines scroll by.
But not being a football (in the non-US sense of the word) fan, I didn't know what was happening.
From the original AP article that CNN is citing ...
apnews.com